The vote was 13-to-2, with Councilmen Oliver Pennington and Stephen Costello opposed. The vote was a major turnaround from two days before, when several council members sounded dubious about whether the deal was in the city's best interests.

As they received more information about the proposed sale and weighed the $100 million shortfall the city faces in the coming fiscal year, several council members said they came to see the sale as a good idea.

“We are really in tough financial times,” Councilwoman Jolanda Jones said. “I don't see where we have a lot of options.”

Mayor Annise Parker proposed the sale two weeks ago after protracted negotiations, as well as two appraisals, brought the church and city to the $7.5 million price.

That figure does not reflect an $11.8 million lump sum the megachurch paid to lease the facility in 2001 for 30 years.

Supporters of the sale defended the price, noting the previous payment and the fact that the city would collect no income from the property for at least 24 years. City officials said the price reflected the present value of those future lease payments and the residual land value.

Joel and Victoria Osteen, who lead the Lakewood congregation, the largest in the United States with more than 40,000 in attendance each week, said they were grateful to own the facility and cement their place in Houston.

“I feel great, very excited, couldn't be more honored to know the facility is ours forever,” Joel Osteen said. “It's one thing to lease a piece of property, but when you own it, it's just roots a little deeper.”

Costello called the transaction a “fire sale from a distressed owner” on Monday and disputed many of the assumptions that city officials and appraisers used to set the $7.5 million price for the 606,000-square-foot building — former home to the Houston Rockets. The converted church arena sits on 7 acres in the Greenway Plaza area along the Southwest Freeway.

Councilman C.O. Bradford sharply faulted Parker for how the sale was unveiled to the public, questioning why the previous payments from Lakewood and all the encumbrances were not more clearly explained initially. Parker gave Bradford a long stare during Wednesday's council session Wednesday but did not address the criticism directly.